BBC News to launch show on Facebook Watch in the US

Wednesday, September 12 - BBC News today announces that it is working with Facebook to launch Cut Through the Noise, a new weekly news show on Facebook Watch for US audiences. This will be the first funded news show for Facebook Watch from a non-US publisher following its launch, and is a part of an initiative announced by Facebook earlier this year to test a destination for quality and timely news content on the platform. The show is set to launch later this year in the US.

“We’re excited to be working with Facebook on this show,” said Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News. “Social media is an important source of news and information for many Americans, so we are always looking for new ways of bringing our audiences high quality, non-partisan news coverage they can trust from around the world.”

Cut Through the Noise will be a weekly made-for-mobile show that will tackle a different issue each week. Presented from BBC News’ Washington, DC bureau or from the field, it will tap into the BBC’s global network of journalists to offer expertise from around the world on a broad range of issues that matter to US audiences.

Informative and visually compelling, the show will draw on the BBC’s pioneering work on vertical video and Facebook Live to drive conversation, bring understanding and build community. After watching the show, the aim is that viewers will feel they have an in-depth understanding of an issue and the ability to decide for themselves.

The BBC attracts a weekly global audience of 347 million people to its international news services including the BBC World News television network, BBC.com online and BBC World Service radio. This year, BBC World News was named the United States’ most trusted TV news brand in a consumer study; it is nominated for four News and Documentary Emmy Awards; and its reporting on the Rohingya refugee crisis earned a Peabody Award.

Cut Through the Noise can be found by US audiences in the recently launched section in Facebook Watch dedicated to news, - a place on Facebook where people can find, follow, and interact with timely news videos from quality news publishers. Its first round of programming was announced in June 2018. International audiences will also be able to watch Cut Through the Noise on the Facebook Watch platform, by following the BBC News page and adding it to their Watchlist.

Notes to Editors

BBC World News and BBC.com, the BBC’s commercially funded international 24-hour English news platforms, are owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd. BBC World News television is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and over 454 million households and 3 million hotel rooms. The channel’s content is also available on 178 cruise ships, 53 airlines, including 13 distributing the channel live inflight, and 23 mobile phone networks. BBC.com offers up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features, including BBC Capital, BBC Culture, BBC Future and BBC Travel, for PCs, tablets and mobile devices to more than 92 million unique browsers each month.

About Facebook Watch

Facebook Watch is a place to discover and enjoy shows on Facebook. Home to a wide range of shows – from scripted comedy and drama, to competition and reality series, to individual creators and live sports – Facebook Watch is a video platform where episodic content, community and conversation come together. This is a personalized viewing experience, where you can discover new series based on what your friends are watching and catch up on the shows you follow. Facebook Watch is available for free on mobile apps across Apple and Android, on desktop, laptop and on TV apps listed here: https://videoapp.fb.com/.